1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to portable electronics devices, such as handheld computers. Specifically, the present invention relates to portable electronics devices having housings that are sealed and that also have expansion ports that do not compromise the integrity of the sealed housing.
2. The Prior State of the Art
During recent decades, electronics devices have become smaller, more lightweight, and more widely used in a variety of industries and endeavors. Early computers used vacuum tubes and other large-scale components and, accordingly, were large devices that were immovable fixtures and at times could fill an entire room. With the advent of liquid crystal display devices, integrated circuits and silicon semiconductor chips, computers and other electronics devices have steadily increased in computing power and decreased in size.
In recent years, the demand for access to computing power, coupled with the significant decrease in computer size has yielded portable electronics devices, such as laptop computers, which enable users to carry computing resources that previously were limited to relatively fixed, desktop computers. Special-purpose computing and communication devices have also been developed, including digital personal assistants, cellular phones, global positioning system receivers, and any number of other electronics devices.
This proliferation has taken computers and electronics devices from the relatively sterile conditions of the laboratory and the office to environments and industries where the devices are more likely to experience dirty or adverse conditions, including transportation environments, manufacturing, agriculture, natural resource industries, etc. Some electronics devices have been designed specifically for use outdoors and in other dirty or unpredictable environments. These devices are typically rugged, and can withstand some amount of vibration and shock, dust, dirt, and exposure to water or foreign material. Typical rugged electronics devices have housings formed from a front and back portions that are secured together at a sealed interface. The two portions of the housing define an interior in which the functional components of the electronics device are housed. The sealed interface often includes a gasket that conforms to both the front and back portions such that the sealed interface is watertight.
Many computers and other electronics devices have expansion ports that are adapted to receive peripherals, storage media, communication devices, and the like, including those that could be developed in the future. Expansion ports enable users to take advantage of new technology without having to discard existing electronics devices. Portable electronics devices are often equipped with expansion ports. A common and intuitive position for expansion ports on portable electronics devices is at either end of the device. Such expansion ports can receive expansion devices without interfering with the keypad structures and display devices associated with the electronics device or with the ability of users to hold the electronics device. Specifically, expansion ports are often oriented such that expansion devices engage and disengage in a direction that is parallel to the plane defined by the working surface of the electronics device.
While the foregoing position and orientation of expansion ports in electronics devices is advantageous for many devices, it creates problems when used with rugged devices. In order to position and orient an expansion port in conventional rugged electronics device in this manner, the expansion port must straddle the sealed interface between the front and back portions of the housing. As a result, the expansion port interferes with the integrity of the sealed interface and can cause the gasket to have to be of a relatively complex shape. This problem has resulted in rugged electronics devices that either do not have expansion ports or that compromise the sealed nature of the housing if expansion ports are included.
The present invention relates to electronics devices that have sealed housings and that also have an expansion port that does not interfere with the integrity of the seal. As in conventional electronics devices, the expansion port of the invention is positioned generally at one end of the device and is oriented such that expansion devices are engaged and disengaged in a direction that is generally parallel to a plane defined by a working surface of the electronics devices.
According to one aspect of the invention, an electronics device has a housing with a front portion and a back portion that are connected at a sealed interface. The electronics device has a plane defined by a working surface of a keypad structure formed on the front of the device. Near the end of the device that has the expansion port, which is typically the distal or top end, the sealed interface deviates from being parallel to the plane defined by the working surface. Generally, the sealed interface near the distal end is positioned nearer to the front surface of the device than it would be in a conventional electronics device. Positioning the sealed interface in this manner permits an expansion port to be formed in the housing without straddling the sealed interface or the gasket associated with the sealed interface. Typically, the expansion port is formed to the back of the sealed interface. A door protecting the expansion port can be opened without interfering with the sealed interface.
A housing formed according to the invention permits rugged electronics devices to be effectively sealed and to receive expansion devices. Examples of the expansion devices which can be received in the expansion ports include mass data storage devices, input/output devices, or other devices to enhance the capabilities of the electronics device. Gaskets used with sealed interfaces in such devices can be relatively simple because they do not have to be adapted to the intricacies of the expansion port.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. The features and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and appended claims, or may be learned by the practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.